What games did you feel had better stories then gameplay?

[Not G. Ivingname]

When the balance for gameplay vs. story in video games 9 times out of 10 goes into the gameplay's favor. Mario, Bayonetta, Call of Halo: Gears of the Patriot, the list is endless. However, their are those 1's that go into the stories favor. When the budget went to writing, voice acting, and script, the gameplay often is left in the back room without any budget left for it. So, what games did you feel were better when you didn't touch buttons then when you did?

I think Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard was a prime example of this. The comedy was gold and the voice acting was incredable, but the gameplay did the impossibly by being both grass watching boring and being ungodly frustrating.

 

[JoeKickAzz]

The Darkness.

Nuff said.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

i'd have to say, red dead since well, the shooting, was just boring. Also Heavy Rain

 

[Ashcrexl]

silent hill 2 is so overrated. yahtzee forgot to mention how dull it was to actually play the game. yes, atmosphere, monster design, psychological trauma, deranged characters, awesome, but it was brutal to play for more than 30 minutes at a time.

 

[voetballeeuw]

I loved Dragon Age: Origins, but playing it on the Xbox was incredibly frustrating. It worked so much better on the PC, since you could bind more than 4 abilities, unlike the xbox. And, I think in the computer version, you could do the whole zoom out thing, where you can see the battlefield, and plan from there, correct? I understand they did their best, just at times, the gameplay was quite rough. I'm looking at you Deep Roads.

 

[The Madman]

Planescape: Torment

Best story in gaming today, yet also easily the worst implementation of the Infinity Engine with imbalanced and un-fun combat as well as muddy (if imaginative and colourful) visuals as well as all sorts of other minor flaws. But that story... damn!

Just think of the game as more of an interactive 'choose your own path' novel with some annoying gimmick fight scenario and you'll have one helluva time, because it really is an excellent story comparable even to many novels in quality and length.

The Longest Journey

Despite PST above having a 'better' story, The Longest Journey has the more endearing story and characters. I genuinely enjoyed learning more about the main protagonist as well as following her unfolding adventure... pity the 'game' part of this game was so piss poor and the absolute worst sort of point & click tripe. Yet despite that, still my all time favourite adventure game for the story and characters alone. I really, really love this series and desperately want to see it continued!

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Planescape: Torment

Best story in gaming today, yet also easily the worst implementation of the Infinity Engine with imbalanced and un-fun combat as well as muddy (if imaginative and colourful) visuals as well as all sorts of other minor flaws. But that story... damn!

Just think of the game as more of an interactive 'choose your own path' novel with some annoying gimmick fight scenario and you'll have one helluva time, because it really is an excellent story comparable even to many novels in quality and length.

Actually, the same could be said of many of the old crpgs.

 

[octafish]

Planescape: Torment

Best story in gaming today, yet also easily the worst implementation of the Infinity Engine with imbalanced and un-fun combat as well as muddy (if imaginative and colourful) visuals as well as all sorts of other minor flaws. But that story... damn!

Just think of the game as more of an interactive 'choose your own path' novel with some annoying gimmick fight scenario and you'll have one helluva time, because it really is an excellent story comparable even to many novels in quality and length.

The Longest Journey

Despite PST above having a 'better' story, The Longest Journey has the more endearing story and characters. I genuinely enjoyed learning more about the main protagonist as well as following her unfolding adventure... pity the 'game' part of this game was so piss poor and the absolute worst sort of point & click tripe. Yet despite that, still my all time favourite adventure game for the story and characters alone. I really, really love this series and desperately want to see it continued!

Sure just mention the two best stories of any games you damn ninja.

 

[HT_Black]

Mass Effect had a story about a trillion times better than its gameplay, but that's not saying much since it could be unironically likened to the works of Shakespeare.

Mass Effect 2, however, was rotten on both sides of the apple.

 

[The Madman]

Actually, the same could be said of many of the old crpgs.

Could be said, certainly, but it would also largely be a matter of opinion. I for one really enjoy the pseudo time-based combat that the infinity engine was known for. Others might disagree or not see the appeal, but the experience itself is solid and will always have fans such as myself. Hell, combat was the main appeal for Icewind Dale 2 and damn did it have some fun fights despite using the same engine and basic gameplay mechanics as Planescape.

Planescape: Torment however had genuinely faulty gameplay held back both by being incredibly imbalanced and consisting largely of boring badly-scripted fights which only felt out of place in an otherwise fully narrative driven experience. Bluntly put, it was bad! Though thankfully Planescape is also one of those few games where its possible to talk and sneak your way through most of the tedious and frustrating fights.

Good thing the story in Planescape is good enough that I still recommend the game anyway to anyone even remotely interested in narrative in gaming or just a solid, intriguing tale!

Sure just mention the two best stories of any games you damn ninja.

I'm greedy that way, what can I say?

 

[ultrachicken]

I think Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard was a prime example of this. The comedy was gold and the voice acting was incredable, but the gameplay did the impossibly by being both grass watching boring and being ungodly frustrating.

So, Eat Lead is like being forced to watch grass grow, but if you blink you have to start all over again?

OT: Mafia II. It's such an intensely annoying pop-in, pop-out shooter with boring driving sections, but damn did I enjoy the cutscenes and voice acting.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

*snip*

Quite an interesting surmise there. I had purchased Planescape when I first joined GOG (partly because of,) but it left something to be desired. I've been holding off on other similar titles because I thought the problem was inherit from the D&D system adaptation.

 

[Tartarga]

All of the .Hack games. Pressing x until everything is dead gets boring after a while.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

The Darkness.

Nuff said.

This is the correct answer. Perhaps the best comic-to-game adaptation ever made, but it unfortunately got stuck with such crappy gameplay that hardly anyone decided to play it. A shame too, I'd love to at least see a remake like they did with Escape From Butcher Bay.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

The Darkness.

Nuff said.

This is the correct answer. Perhaps the best comic-to-game adaptation ever made, but it unfortunately got stuck with such crappy gameplay that hardly anyone decided to play it. A shame too, I'd love to at least see a remake like they did with Escape From Butcher Bay.

 

[Dindril]

I'm surprised to see no one posted FFXIII. I, personally, enjoyed it's story. Other than that, I would have to say Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

 

[pyrosaw]

99.9% of all RPG's.

 

[Justanothergamer300]

Killer 7

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

I think Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard was a prime example of this. The comedy was gold and the voice acting was incredable, but the gameplay did the impossibly by being both grass watching boring and being ungodly frustrating.

So, Eat Lead is like being forced to watch grass grow, but if you blink you have to start all over again?

OT: Mafia II. It's such an intensely annoying pop-in, pop-out shooter with boring driving sections, but damn did I enjoy the cutscenes and voice acting.

Basically. It has such an archaic covering system and such suicidal AI combined with an extremely low amount of health (plus the fact trying to fire any gun fully auto turns it into a ceiling killer) makes the game bang your head against your desk in both the "I just fell asleep" way and the "I just got instant killed by a moron who just noticed the 20 bullets you put around him" way.